Hyde is Old!

Okay-- the strangest thing just happened. I was in a deli near the school where I teach, loading up my coffee with sweet-n-low, when a girl approached me and tapped me on the shoulder (I must not have heard her earlier attempts to get my attention, as I had my iPod on).

"Didn't you used to teach at the ----- school?" she asked.

"Um, yeah..."

(I didn't recognize this girl).

"Well, I think I had you as a teacher," she said, shyly.

"Oh! What's your name again?" I asked, smiling as if I had some recognition.

"Genesis."

"Genesis? Didn't I have you when you were in 9th grade? For writing?"

"Yes! That's me!"

I couldn't believe the girl standing in front of me was the girl in my memory. She was an awkward, overweight, needy 9th grade girl who used to stop by my classroom after school to talk about life, to look for a friend, as if she had no one else to talk to. She looked vibrant and full of life now, and as if she had grown a bit more into her body and come to know herself much better.

"You really made a difference for me," she said. "You were a great teacher. It sucked when you left. I want to be a history teacher."

"You do? Wait-- so you graduated already? Are you going to college here?"

"Yes. I'm a sophomore."

Woah!!! I am so old!!! I can't believe she's a college sophomore!

"Well, you should email me some time if you ever want to catch up," I said. "Or talk history... or anything."

"Really?" her eyes lit up. "Okay! Didn't you leave ---- school because you went to do your Master's?"

"Yeah, I did it in a year and then I started the PhD and now I'm adjuncting."

"Oh...Yeah... I heard from some people you were teaching here."

"So... keep in touch," I said, scribbling my name and email on a scrap of paper. "And if you haven't signed up for the required history surveys, you should take them with me. You look great. It was great to see you again. "

"You too!" She was beaming. She and her friend (who hadn't said a word during this entire encounter) shuffled off.

So that was that. Wow. Hyde is old!!!!

I taught high school from 2001-2002. I was 22, turning 23 that year.

Time fucking flies.

I have a lot more to say... a lot more to blog about... but I've got to teach and finish up some paperwork first.

Just had to tell that story...

-h-